With Mike Smith’s Status Uncertain, Del Rio Turns to Plan B
By Kevin Saito
For Jack Del Rio and the Oakland Raiders, here have been more ups, downs, twists, turns, and loops in the on again- off again- possible-but not likely hiring of Mike Smith as their next defensive coordinator than the biggest, craziest roller coaster at Six Flag’s. The latest speculation is that though Smith is still expected to interview, his hiring is not likely. Which has left the Raiders to make contingency plans.
Again, I'm told its very unlikely Mike Smith will be the Raiders DC per those familiar with the situation.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 22, 2015
If the speculation turns out to be true, it’s an unfortunate turn of events for the Raiders and their fans. Smith would have been a very solid choice to run Oakland’s defense, both from Del Rio’s familiarity and comfort with him, to the successes the pair had together in Jacksonville.
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In his six seasons as Del Rio’s DC with the Jaguars, Smith’s defenses ranked inside the top 10 in points allowed four times. Smith’s defenses were known for aggressive defensive fronts that produced a ton of pressure on opposing quarterbacks and racked up a lot of sacks. Smith was able to maximize the talent of his defensive teams, the stars as well as the middle of the road players, and achieve a level of success.
Given Smith’s situation, and the possibility that he may indeed step away from football for a year – or more – Del Rio and the Raiders are moving quickly to formulate a plan B. And with most of the quality coordinators already locked up by other teams, it seems that Del Rio has to get a little creative in his thinking and has targeted a college coach to run his defense.
In Oakland, Del Rio targeting a college coach for DC. Interview set up for Sunday. The name is being kept close to the chest #Raiders
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 23, 2015
Details from the Raiders are not forthcoming as to the identity of the college coach expected to be interviewing for the job this weekend. But in looking at the shape of Del Rio’s coaching staff, there seem to be a couple of qualities that are nearly must haves to join the team. The first being experience at the pro level, and the second being a familiarity with Del Rio.
It’s been speculated that the unnamed coach Del Rio is bringing in for an interview is Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. While it is just theory at this point, with nothing concrete to back it up, there are a few points that seem to work in VanGorder’s favor. First of all, he has experience coaching in the NFL, having served as the linebackers coach for the Atlanta Falcons in 2007, and serving as Mike Smith’s defensive coordinator from 2008-2011.
In his time with the Falcons, VanGorder’s defenses, though not spectacular, were solid enough. While his passing defenses in Atlanta clearly needed some tightening up in terms of yards allowed, his run defenses ranked in the top 10 in three of his four seasons. While the Raiders need help with their secondary, their run defense needs even more help.
Having a DC familiar with Smith’s system, who might run a variation of the same schemes might be good enough for Oakland. Though somebody like VanGorder might yield positive results, it still seems like dating the best friend of the girl you really wanted to date, but who turned you down.
If indeed, the identity of the mystery college coach turns out to be VanGorder, Del Rio may be thinking that while he’s not Smith, he just might be a reasonably close facsimile.
It would behoove Del Rio and the Raiders though, to pull out all of the stops in trying to lure Smith to Oakland. He has the requisite NFL experience and familiarity Del Rio seems to want. And given his track record, he could be one of the key pieces that will help invigorate a Raiders’ defensive unit that has been a trainwreck for quite some time.
And on the back of a solid, energetic defensive unit that gets after people and takes over games, the Raiders may well again return to relevance and beyond.